Highlights: UN calls for de-escalation amid rising tension between Israel and Lebanon. 12 civilians, including 10 rescuers, were killed - 11 on the Lebanese side, and one on the Israeli side. The UN calls for a return to diplomacy and offers its good services to the Lebanese and Israeli armed forces to organize a tripartite if they wish. For almost six months since the war has raged between Hamas and Israel, Hezbollah, support of the Palestinian organization, and the Israeli forces have been in daily opposition.

UN calls for de-escalation amid rising tension between Israel and Lebanon

The UN and its force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) are concerned about the escalation in recent days, and in the last 36 hours in particular, at the “Blue line”. They called for an immediate de-escalation on the border between Lebanon and Israel, while on Wednesday, 12 civilians, including 10 rescuers, were killed - 11 on the Lebanese side, and one on the Israeli side.

A patrol from UNIFIL, the UN force in Lebanon, near a destroyed car in southern Lebanon, March 2, 2024. © AFP

By: RFI Follow

Lebanon

, several groups manage health centers and emergency response operations. Thus, the seven rescuers who were killed in Habariyé in a strike on an emergency center are members of the Amal movement, allies of

Hezbollah

, the other rescuers are affiliated with Hezbollah. But Imran Riza, the United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon (Unscol), reiterated: the attacks on medical infrastructures are unacceptable and violate international humanitarian law, recalls our correspondent in New York,

Carrie Nooten

But it is also

the escalation

that followed which worries the head of the 10,000 peacekeepers deployed between Lebanon and Israel. In retaliation, Hezbollah announced that it had bombed several locations in northern Israel in two locations. Hezbollah officials on Thursday raised the possibility of increasing military pressure against Israel, hours after Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari warned of "

deeply transforming Lebanese territory into a war zone

." points out our correspondent in Beirut,

Paul Khalifeh

Fear of Hezbollah

Hezbollah MP Ali Fayyad said Thursday that his party's attacks "

will become more intense, both in quantity and quality, in depth and in the choice of targets

" in Israel. Another senior official of the Shiite formation, Ali Damouche affirmed that Hezbollah will respond “

quickly and decisively to each Israeli attack

”.

This belligerent tone reflects Hezbollah's fear of seeing Israel impose a fait accompli by targeting Lebanese territory in depth. Hezbollah believes that failure to respond proportionately to Israeli attacks would result in new rules of engagement that would benefit Israel.

The consecration of such a scenario would mean the end of the deterrence that Hezbollah claims to have succeeded in imposing on Israel to remove the specter of a major ground operation against Lebanon. The issue is therefore crucial for the continuation of the conflict. This explains Hezbollah's decision to resort to escalation to try to reestablish the rules of engagement that have been abused by Israel in recent days.

For its part, the UN calls for a return to diplomacy and offers its good services to the Lebanese and Israeli armed forces to organize a tripartite if they wish. For almost six months since the war has raged between Hamas and Israel, Hezbollah, support of the Palestinian organization, and the Israeli forces have been in daily opposition. At least 346 people have been killed, one in five of whom are civilians.

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UN calls for de-escalation amid rising tension between Israel and Lebanon

UN calls for de-escalation amid rising tension between Israel and Lebanon

Fear of Hezbollah

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